Rio Tinto’s driverless trucks program shifts gear to make Pilbara mine full auto

Rio to make more of its Pilbara haul fleet driverless.

VideoRio Tinto will convert another 48 haul trucks to fully autonomous, which will make Brockman 4 an all-driverless truck operation.

Rio Tinto will expand the driverless truck program at its Pilbara iron ore operations, retrofitting Caterpillar trucks for the first time for automated operations.

Nineteen Caterpillar haul trucks at the Marandoo mine will be retrofitted with the so-called Autonomous Haulage System technology starting mid-2018 for completion by the end of 2019.

And another 29 Komatsu haul trucks will be retrofitted starting next year at the mining giant’s Brockman 4 operation. The program is scheduled for completion by mid-2019, allowing the mine to run entirely in driverless mode.

Westrac CAT will play an ongoing role in managing and supporting the AHS system.

About 20 per cent of Rio’s existing fleet of almost 400 haul trucks in the Pilbara is AHS-enabled.

Finance News Presenter Meilin Chew looks at the WA projects on the cards that could deliver big job numbers

The West Australian

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Following the completion of the projects, Rio Tinto will have more than 130 autonomous trucks, representing about 30 per cent of its fleet.

The projects are expected to make a significant contribution toward Rio Tinto’s $5 billion productivity programme.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said the company was excited to be starting a new chapter in its automation journey with Caterpillar.

“And we are proud to be extending our successful partnership with Komatsu on this world-first retrofitting initiative,” he said.

“Rapid advances in technology are continuing to revolutionise the way large-scale mining is undertaken across the globe.